


Happy Ending

by jacquelee



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-27
Updated: 2016-06-27
Packaged: 2018-07-18 14:15:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,900
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7318546
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jacquelee/pseuds/jacquelee
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>AU in which Red and Snow run into a bunch of orphaned girls right after the incident with Red's mother and unexpectedly find their happy ending.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Happy Ending

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by the comment_fic prompt "Fairy Tales, any, their 'happily ever after' involves at least six kids" and by an old romance novel I read years ago in which the story of Snow White was retold with an heiress hiding out with seven orphaned boys instead of dwarfs.

There was laughter in the garden. All the girls were running around, chasing each other. None of them seemed to be in any way afraid of the big wolf who leaped around them, panting and snapping. In the end they collapsed together in two big heaps, one with Red in the middle and one with Snow. 

Both heaps gradually moved towards each other and for a while they all just lay there, exhausted after the playing but happy. 

Eventually, it was Red who got up first and went to the bench at the side of the house where her coat was lying. Insa was the fastest to get there after her and helped her drape the coat over herself. Once fully human, Red smiled. 

"Thanks! Now who thinks it's time for dinner?" 

Loud agreement greeted that question and the girls ran inside. Snow followed a little slower, stretching her hand out for Red to take it. They stood in front of the house for a while, savoring the moment. 

Before going inside they smiled at each other. 

"Our family." 

Snow said it quietly but she knew Red had heard it from the way she held her hand a little tighter. Yes, their family. Their happy ending. It was far better than either of them had ever imagined. 

Entering the house, Snow thought back on her life, back to when all of this started, when they had still been on the run, right after Red had learned from her mother to control the wolf. They had been so desperate back then and a happy ending like this had seemed so far out of reach.

***

Snow had no idea where she was, only that she had been separated from Red yet again, something they had both hoped to prevent. But the Queen's soldiers had other ideas and Red's wolf had been needed to incapacitate them and draw them away from Snow. 

Now Snow was running through the forest, vaguely aware that she was nearing a village, also something she had hoped to avoid, since she knew what happened to villages when Regina realized she had been there. 

She turned in a different direction, away from where she thought the village was and kept running. And then suddenly she was falling. It wasn't a vertical fall, just a slide down a very steep ledge but looking in front of her she could make out a river in the darkness. A wide, deep river she was falling into right now. 

She desperately tried to grab hold of something, anything, but there was nothing. Bracing herself for the impact of the water, she didn't notice the stone that was lying directly in her path. There was a sharp pain in her head and then everything went dark. 

When she woke up again, she had no idea where she was and needed a few moments to remember. The river! Not sure if getting up or even opening her eyes were a good idea, she tried to take stock of her surroundings. She was clearly lying on a bed of sorts, not on the ground. And she was not wet. Which very likely meant that someone changed her clothes. But who? 

There weren't many sounds but those she did hear were of the inside of a cabin or house, not the forest. 

Daring to open her eyes a fraction, she saw that it was day and that she was lying in a small room that only contained the bed, a wardrobe and a small table with two chairs standing by it. And she could see that someone had indeed changed her clothes, as she was now wearing a thin nightshirt and had a blanket draped on her. 

She hadn't finished thinking about what this meant when there were footsteps outside and voices that became louder and were clearly headed this direction. 

Not knowing if she was among friends or foes, she shut her eyes again, not willing to let them know that she was awake. It was unlikely that she was in custody of the Queen's soldiers, they wouldn't leave her unrestrained and unguarded, but it was still important to be careful. 

"-couldn't just let her die could we?" 

"I'm not saying you should have. Just that this is not good. What do we do now?"

Someone entered the room, by the sound of the voices they were very young, possibly children. One of them settled down next to her and after a few moments gently put a wet towel on the back of her head. That actually hurt for a moment and she remembered that she must have gotten a wound when hitting the stone. 

The care with which the person washed and tended to her wound made her more inclined to hope that she was indeed among friends. 

"I don't know. I just know that I cannot just let someone die when I am able to help. And I know you can't either." 

There was some grumbling from the other person but it thankfully seemed to be an agreeing grumble and not a contradictory one. 

"We'll just help her and then send her away. She won't ever even know." 

"How do you know that? We don't even know who she is. What was she doing out there in the forest? What if she's a bandit or something?" 

"In those clothes? I don't think so." 

There was a sound by the door and more footsteps, very light ones this time. 

"I brought some more water." 

This voice was very young, even younger than the other two. Snow started to wonder what was going on here. What did they not want her to know? Not that she cared much, she herself had her secrets and would never pressure anyone to reveal something they didn't want revealed. 

But her curiosity got the best of her and she opened her eyes and sat up, or rather, tried to sit up but was stopped by the pain in her head. She closed her eyes and fell back. When she opened her eyes again, she saw three young children looking at her wide eyed.

The one sitting next to her was a girl and seemed to be about nine or ten years old. The one at the door was younger, also a girl. The third child, a boy of about the same age as the girl next to her, was standing by the table and looked at her more disapproving than surprised. 

She was not an expert in these things, but the children's skin color seemed to indicate that they weren't siblings. The girl sitting next to her had very dark brown skin, nearly black, while the other two were also brown but lighter. 

Snow smiled, trying to convey that they had nothing to fear from her. Which was a little ironic since she was the one laying on the bed with a head wound but their stances were so defensive that she felt like the threatening one. 

"Thank you. I gather you rescued me." 

For a few moments the children looked at each other and then it was the boy who spoke. 

"Aga found you by the river. She thought you were dead. What were you doing there?" 

"Insa!" 

The girl sitting next to her frowned at the boy, or was it a boy with that name? Snow didn't know. But the girl turned back and smiled at her.

"We brought you here and took your wet clothes off. I don't think you're in danger of getting pneumonia but you have a nasty wound and possibly a concussion. You need to rest for a few days." 

"And then you need to leave. We have enough problems." 

Insa looked at her disapprovingly and left the room together with the other girl. The third girl stayed and continued treating her wound with what seemed to be a herbal concoction. 

"You seem to know what you're doing." 

"This? That is easy. Everyone always gets bumps and bruises. And then I heal them. Someone has to, but I also do enjoy it. It is interesting to see which herbs work and which don't." 

The girl seemed willing to talk, so Snow felt bold enough to ask some questions. But first things first.

"I am Mary." 

She still felt a little bad about using the name she had used when she had first encountered Red, but using her real name was out of the question.

"I am Mirana." 

"Nice to meet you. Can you tell me where I am exactly?" 

Now Mirana's smile faded a little. 

"Our house is at the river, near the forest. The nearest village is White Roses but that is a few miles from here." 

"Could I talk with your parents? I am thankful for what you have done but-" 

"No parents. Just us. You want to talk, talk to us." 

Snow looked up at Insa, who had reentered the room and now looked even more disapproving. 

"You live here alone?" 

"Why shouldn't we? We can take care of ourselves." 

Something was wrong here. Something in the way that Insa talked and Mirana avoided her gaze. She had to be careful. 

"I do not doubt that. But maybe I can help you? I promise I will not hurt you. Whatever it is you are hiding, you can tell me." 

Now Insa looked at Mirana.

"See I told you. This was a bad idea." 

While Mirana seemed to be more inclined to believe that Snow didn't have nefarious intentions, Insa glared at her like she was evil incarnate. 

When the silence stretched out more, she decided to make the first step. Whoever these children were, they were clearly not a threat. And she got more and more convinced that they needed help more than she did, which was saying something.

"Look, I am not saying you can trust me because I can imagine you heard that one time too often. But trust that I am also in a bad situation. The last thing I want is to intrude on someone else's secret. I have enough of my own." 

They still just looked at her, even though Insa's look now seemed to become a little softer. 

"I would be grateful if I could stay a few days. Just until I'm healed. I promise, after that, I will go away." 

Before any of them could say anything, there was a commotion at the door. A loud knocking and voices somewhere outside of the house. Insa and Mirana looked at each other worried as two other young girls came into the room, both very frightened.

"It's Hargrove. He will not leave. He said he demands to see the Matron." 

The children all looked at each other but before Snow could even process anything, a big man came barging into the room. 

"You children have fooled me long enough. I demand to see-" 

"What is the meaning of this?" 

With all the regality she could muster from her place in the bed, and hoping that this man wouldn't notice the likeness of her and the wanted posters all around the kingdom, Snow had decided to ask questions later and get rid of this clearly unfriendly and angry man first. 

After she had declared this, both the children and the man stared at her for a moment. Mirana was the first to recover, clearly quick on the uptake. 

"I apologize Matron Green. Mister Hargrove had been meaning to speak to you but you were too ill."

Now she looked at the man who didn't seem at all sure about himself anymore. 

"Which we have told him time and time again." 

"Yes, well, it seemed like some shady business was going on here. No adults out, only you girls." 

With that he looked disapprovingly at Insa, who, as Snow conceded, was indeed a girl, just one who dressed in pants and cut her hair short. Which, quite obviously was something this man didn't agree with. 

"And there were rumors. This is the Queen's land and if the orphanage does not have a functioning leadership, it will have to be closed." 

He seemed to become more and more uncertain with every word but he also didn't appear to be willing to let go even an inch on his position. At least now Snow knew a little better what was going on. Matron of an orphanage, huh? Well, she could do that. She sat up, trying her best to push down the headache and dizziness that caused, and glared at Hargrove.

"I demand you leave this room and this house immediately. I cannot believe that a man would commit such an indignation as to march into the bedroom of a helpless schoolmistress. I am in my nightshirt! You should be ashamed of yourself! Ashamed! And now leave before I decide that the Queen needs to hear about this!" 

Hargrove seemed to still think about this, which left Snow wondering if he was one of those men who would assault helpless women, even, or especially, when they were clearly ordering them to leave, but either he thought better or was discouraged by the now half a dozen little girls in the room. 

Whatever it was, after a moment or two, he merely nodded curtly and went away. Insa went after him, clearly to make sure that he would really go away.

In the room, everyone still seemed to hold their breath until the door to the house was very loudly closed and Insa came back in. And even after that everyone still stayed silent and looked at Snow, other than two of the smaller girls who had started to cry and one of the older girls who comforted them. 

Snow laid back in the bed, grateful that she didn't have to sit up anymore. The dizziness was still there but subsiding. She looked at the assembled girls one by one. They seemed to be from about two years old to about ten. If there wasn't anyone outside the room left, there were all in all seven. And they were all very afraid. 

Sighing, Snow came to the conclusion that she'd better find out whatever was going on here. Invoking Regina's name reminded her far too much of how vulnerable she was and how much she might have saved the girls right now only to bring onto them something much worse. 

"I guess you better tell me what's going on." 

This brought some movement into the girls. At a look from Mirana, the younger girls sat on the floor in the room and the older ones sat on the chairs. Clearly, whatever was going to be discussed here, all of them would be involved. 

Mirana turned to Snow. 

"Thank you. You didn't have to do that." 

Snow smiled at her encouragingly. 

"I don't like men who yell at children. Or barge into their houses. What did he want?" 

"You heard him! To throw us out! He hates us and that we're here. This house is the Queen's property and her men much rather would use it for other purposes than a measly orphanage. They would send all of us off to different workhouses and we would never see each other again." 

Insa was the one who spoke, more spitting all of it out than calmly explaining. Now all the girls added to the story, even though most of it was still Mirana and Insa talking. 

Snow learned how they were trying to keep the illusion of an adult being here up for weeks now, after the last Matron died of a fever only a short time after being instated, having been sick most of the time, which was why Hargrove didn't know what she looked like and had been fooled by Snow. The cook had run away right after the matron died for fear of being indicted in her death. 

The children knew nobody would bother sending a new Matron anymore because with this one they had had five in the last year and they had already the reputation of being unruly and unmanageable for an all girls orphanage. 

The last Matrons had all been cruel and the very last one had taunted them during her sickness with what would await them when she was gone, the horrors and inhumanities of the workhouses. That was why once she was gone the girls had quietly buried her in the garden in the night and had tried to keep up that she was still there, but still sick. 

They had collected the weekly allowance the orphanage got and bought everything they needed themselves as well as doing all the housework, something they had been doing already before since the Matron had been big on assigning them chores, so nobody was very suspicious at first, but now after a few weeks of nobody seeing any adults around, Hargrove, who managed the Queen's lands in this corner of the kingdom, had grown very suspicious. 

In a way, Snow coming here had been the long awaited rescue for them because now they could just go on, pretending that she was indeed their new Matron. 

After that was said, all of the girls looked hopeful at Snow. Even Insa seemed to have gone from mistrusting her to seeing her as their only hope. 

Snow sighed. This was a complication that she hadn't foreseen. But the more she thought about it, the more it actually sounded very appealing. Wasn't this exactly what she had been looking for? A quiet house in the forest, a new life? And this even came with the added benefit of giving her the protection of a new identity. Matron Green. Why not? 

She just needed to wear bonnets on her hair and maybe stuff herself when she went out. Some sort of disguise could easily be obtained and the best disguise was everyone thinking she was someone else anyways. 

Obviously, Red needed to be asked, as Snow would never want to live her life without her best friend and family. Hopefully she would find her in a few days, depending on how much the river had washed away her scent. 

Snow felt optimistic that Red would like this idea just as much as she did. Posing as the matrons of an orphanage might well give them more protection than any little cabin in the woods would. 

But before this could be decided, she needed to be honest with what could be her new charges. 

She smiled at them. 

"I would love to stay with you. But you need to know that my name is not Mary. It is Snow White." 

Letting that sink in, Snow looked at their faces when they realized what that meant. Murmurs arose between the younger girls, but it was Insa who spoke up.

"You are the one the Queen is looking for everywhere? The Princess?" 

Insa whistled through her teeth. 

"There is a huge price on your head." 

"I know. Believe me, I know." 

After a look between Insa and Mirana and some murmured conversation between the other girls, Insa shrugged. 

"It's not like anyone would believe us. Or give us the money even if they do. We're just girls." 

That last word was spat out, and Snow sensed that between her appearance and her behaviour, Insa harbored a lot of resentment towards being female. Not that she couldn't understand that, although she personally as princess had been able to enjoy far more freedoms than likely these girls had. 

With another matron around, it was very clear that Insa would not be allowed to wear the things she wore right now. Or to enjoy any of the small freedoms they appeared to have carved out for themselves in the short time they had been left to their own devices. 

The desire to help them and stop the world and especially Regina from hurting them grew bigger and bigger in Snow. 

"I know how cruel the world can be. But if you are willing to keep my secret, I am willing to keep yours and to stay here, posing as your Matron. I promise I will not keep you from doing everything you want to do. The only thing I want is freedom and the possibility of a new life." 

Now all the girls looked more hopeful and optimistic than they had the entire time. 

Mirana and Insa looked around at all the other girls and all of them nodded one by one. Which apparently meant that it was decided. Insa now grinned widely and Mirana smiled at Snow.

"What should we call you? When we're alone I mean. When others are around we need to keep saying Matron Green, of course." 

"Mary? For now at least." 

That reminded her of Red. 

"Oh, I have a friend, I am certain she will find me in a few days." 

Seeing the girls' expressions worrying, she hastily continued. 

"Don't worry. She is a good friend and won't give you away. We were planning on living together. I am sure she wouldn't mind living here with all of you. And having someone pose as cook and housekeeper can only serve to strengthen our disguise." 

This seemed to satisfy them and one by one, they went out of the room. Snow leant back into the pillows and thought about her situation. Quite honestly, it could be worse. Much worse. 

Over the next few days, and as her head wound allowed, she slowly learned how the orphanage worked. For their age, the girls had kept everything running very neatly. Usually, Insa and Mirana would go to the market and get food and other needed supplies and then another girl, Anisa, would cook. She was only seven but already a very good cook. 

Snow learned that all of these girls were very good at doing things far above what anyone would expect for their age.

The only thing that was lacking a little was sweeping and other cleaning, which none of the girls liked doing, so they had just stopped doing more than the minimum after nobody was there to yell at them anymore. And since Snow had always loved cleaning, the first thing she did when she was able to leave the bed was to clean the entire house. It felt good. It felt like making it her home. 

Now only Red needed to be here. On that matter, she had told the children about Red's 'condition' for lack of a better word. They had taken it far better than she had hoped, basically immediately agreeing that having a wolf around would be very good for protection. 

Still, when Red finally showed up after a few days, some of them were quite frightened by the big wolf that stood in their garden and growled, ready to attack anyone who would try to harm her or Snow, until she saw Snow and heard her saying that everything was good and they were among friends. 

Now Red leapt around and snuggled her friend. They had missed each other. And when the girls quite naturally joined in, Red didn't seem to mind them a bit. 

They finally had a place where they could be safe and they both knew that now everything would be good. They actually got their happy ending. And apparently it involved more than half a dozen children, which was an unexpected but welcome bonus.


End file.
